There appears to be no unanimity in political circles, and at a time when the State has seen its biggest spike in COVID-19 cases, this is not music to the ears of the people. On the one hand the government calls on the people not to panic because of the rise in COVID-19 cases in Mangor Hill, Vasco, while on the other hand the MLA of Vasco, Carlos Almeida, who belongs to the party that is in power, publicly makes statements that the port town needs to be locked down and he sees no reason why the government is delaying this. Don’t statements like these that are made in public create panic? Does the MLA have no faith in his own government’s handling of the situation? The government, by the admission of Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant, has said that there is no need of a lockdown of Vasco, so when thoughts such as those of the MLA are voiced out loud, it does lead to panic.
If that’s happening on the part of the government, on the other side of the political divide is the opposition that has been continuously slamming the government for mishandling the situation and is calling for the resignation of the chief minister. The government led by Sawant has faltered in the last weeks, after having kept the slate clean for the State, but the situation in Goa is currently so delicate that a change in leadership at this point of time may not be the best solution. What the State needs is political stability to tide over the crisis, and maturity across the political spectrum. This is not the time to play politics, it is the time to lift the State from the COVID-19 crisis.
A few weeks ago, Governor Satya Pal Malik had chastised the opposition for not cooperating with the government that was ‘handling the crisis with high degree of professionalism’. At that time there was little to critique the government with, but since then the crisis situation has aggravated, giving the opposition some fodder, but that should not result in the opposition grabbing the opportunity and making unreasonable demands. It was the Governor’s conention that the Goa administration was handling the crisis effectively with a ‘great degree of professionalism, sensitivity and empathy’. Whether one is in complete agreement with this or not, the oppostion has to play a responsible role at this time, and show solidarity with the government and the people. He had urged the opposition and all stakeholders to together battle the pandemic. ‘Only by coming together, the crisis can be overcome,’ were his words.
While at the State level the politics may be getting rather personal, one just has to look at Maharashtra to see how a Constitutional crisis was avoided. Uddhav Thackeray who had been sworn in a chief minister of Maharashtra in November had to get elected to the State Legislative Assembly or Council before the end of May. The Legislative Council elections slated for March were postponed due to the pandemic, and with time running out, and the Governor not aceeding to the request Thackeray be nominated to the Legislative Council, it was a phone call from the Chief Minister to the Prime Minister that paved the way for the elections to be held and a constitutional crisis being avoided.
Goan politicians need to display a higher level of maturity. This is not the time to pinprick the government, but to come forth with valuable and feasible suggestions. Goans need to know the steps forward in the battle against the novel coronavirus, and not hear of demands for leadership change, or a reiteration of past statements made. Goa now has 69 active COVID-91 cases. The focus has to clearly be to stop the spread of the contagion. Can the political class come around on this? Time will tell and the Goans are watching.
